Needle for method of fabricating pleated rugs and the like



Jan. 18, 1966 G. B. STANDART 3,229,484

NEEDLE FOR METHOD OF FABRICATING PLEATED RUGS AND THE LIKE Filed March6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.5

2a /a m 30 30 33 24 J8 3a A? 22 /4 M I I I A5 /0 20 24 33 26 7 30 36 jZ4. /4 1 7 a INVENTOR. F GARY B. STANDART F I 7 ATTORNEYS Jan. 18, 1966G. STANDART 3,229,484

NEEDLE FOR METHOD OF FABRICATING PLEATED RUGS AND THE LIKE Filed March6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. GARY B. STANDART BY Z &a& Fm,

M /rww ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofitice 3,229,484 Patented Jan.18, 1966 3,229,484 NEEDLE FOR METHOD F FABRICATIYG PLEATED RUGS AND THELIKE Gary B. Standart, 9500 Buena Vista, ()verland Park, Kans. FiledMar. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 349,817 13 Claims. (Cl. 66118) The presentinvention relate to a method of fabricating pleated rugs and the likeand to a needle for use therewith.

In the hand fabrication of pleated rugs, a needle is used to pleat andmanipulate strips of material of various thicknesses. The pleats in thestrips of material must be uniform, and this has heretofore requiredconsiderable experience and skill. Moreover, a substantially constantthickness of pleats is necessary to properly form the rug, and thecounting and segregation of the required number of pleats has alsorequired considerable experience and skill. More particularly, a crochetneedle having a sharpened point at one end and crochet hook at the otherend, has been used to successively pierce a strip of fabric to formpleats on the needle, and a particular number or thickness of pleats isthen slid off the crochet hook end of the needle and this unit of pleatsis next crocheted or chain-stitched until a succession of units ofpleats has been formed. Assuming that a circular or oval rug is to bemade, the chain of pleat units is then formed into a circular or ovalconfiguration with successive loops of the pleated material beingcrocheted to the previous loop of material until a rug of the desiredsize has been formed. In fabricating the rounded portions of the rug, itis necessary to secure the loops together in such a fashion that the rugwill lie flat. Where the successive loops are crocheted together, thishas required that the pleat units at the rounded portions of the ruginclude additional pleats to provide the extra length necessary.

In any event, an attractive rug of uniform dimensions and adapted to liefiat requires careful attention to formation of pleats of uniform sizeby the crochet needle, and further requires counting the number of pleatfor each pleat unit. This alone requires considerable skill andpainstaking attention, and the problem is made doubly difiicult when anumber of different materials are used in making the rug. Some of thesematerials may be light, such as discarded nylon stockings, or may bequite heavy, such as remnants of mens suits. The rug fabricator must becapable of determining the proper number of pleats of each to use toprovide pleat units of uniform thickness. These difficulties havediscouraged many from undertaking the fabrication of pleated mgs.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aneedle for use in making pleated rugs and which is adapted to indicatethe proper length of material to be fed onto the shank of the needlebetween piercings of the material by the point of the needle wherebypleats of uniform depth are provided.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle of theaforementioned character wherein the needle takes the form of a crochetneedle which is provided with a pleating gauge longitudinally spacedfrom the point of the needle a predetermined distance equivalent to halfthe depth of the pleat desired and which is adapted to permit piercedmaterial to pass therepast in a direction away from the point and yetwhich is adapted to engage and constrain the material from passingtherepast in a direction toward the point. In this manner the distancebetween the point of the needle and the pleating gauge establishes theamount of material necessary to form half the depth of pleat desired,the material being successively pierced from opposite sides to form anundulating or serpentine pattern of pleats. Of course, the crochetneedle need not necessarily be straight, but may include offset portionsor bends, if desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle of theaforementioned character wherein a plurality of pleating gauges areutilized, the gauges being spaced at different distances from the pointof the needle so that there is automatically aiforded an indication ofthe depth of pleat which will be produced, according to the wishes ofthe user. The pleating gauge closest to the needle point produces pleatsof lesser depth, and the gauge spaced farther away from the needle pointprovides pleats having a greater depth. The user thereby has a choice oftwo pleat depths, the first selected normally being used throughout thefabrication of the rug.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a needle of theaforementioned character which includes a material gauge locatedadjacent the crochet hook end of the needle, which gauge is adapted toaccommodate only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material. Thus,the material gauge automatically apprises the user of the proper numberof pleats necessary to form a pleating unit of a predeterminedthickness, regardless of the thickness of the various materials used. Inthis way each pleating unit is made of substantially the same thicknessor body as all the others. That is, the material gauge accommodates morepleats of the thinner materials and less of the thicker materials sothat the gauge provides the user with a pleating unit of uniformthickness regardless of the weight or bulk of the material beingpleated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle of theaforementioned character having a material gauge, and which is providedwith an additional material gauge constituting an increase gauge whichhas the same function as the material gauge but which accommodates morepleats so that round or oval rugs can be made which will lie flat, theincrease gauge being used when the rug is to be crocheted together. Thatis, the increase gauge automatically apprises the user of the additionalnumber of pleats necessary to form the pleating units adjacent therounded portions of the rug being made.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle of theaforementioned character which is relatively inexpensive to manufactureand simple to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fast, simple andinexpensive method of fabricating a pleated rug, and particularly amethod of fastening together the pleats by a novel lacing technique.Present crocheting or chain stitching techniques utilized for thesecurement of pleats are complex, time consuming, and discouraging tonovice rug makers.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a needle according to the presentinvention, a strip of pleated material being illustrated in phantomoutline;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the needle of FIG. 1, a portionthereof being broken away for brevity;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the needle of FIG. 1, a portion thereof beingbroken away for brevity;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating a strip of pleatedmaterial in position upon the pleating and material gauges of theneedle;

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are other embodiments of pleating or material gaugesaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the needle of FIG. 1, illustrating themanner in which the pleated material is drawn off the needle for use;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the pleated material partially lacedtogether in an arrangement productive of an oval rug; and

FIG. is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the showing in FIG.9 and illustrating the manner of lacing together adjacent sections ofpleated material.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 through 4thereof, there is illustrated a needle 10 which includes an elongatedshank 12 having a point 14 at one end for piercing a strip or length ofmaterial 16, and further having a pair of pleating gauges 18 and 20longitudinally spaced from the point 14. The shank 12 also includes acrochet hook 22 at its opposite end and a pair of material gauges 24 and26 located between the pleating gauges 18 and 20 and the hook 22.

The needle 10 may be made of metal, plastic, or other suitable materialand the point 14 is sharpened to facilitate piercing of the material 16.The point 14 is used to successively pierce the strip of material 16from opposite sides as the material 16 is loaded upon the needle 10 inundulating form, the pleating gauges 18 and 20 aitording a means ofinsuring uniformity of depth of these pleats, as will be seen.

More particularly, the pleating gauge 18 is constituted by a notch 28having an abrupt shoulder 30 which terminates in a rounded depressionextending rearwardly away from the point 14 and rising to form atapering section 32 which merges with the curvilinear outer surface ofthe shank 12. The pleating gauge 20 is constituted by an identical notch34, but the notch 34 is spaced a greater distance from the point 14 thanis the notch 28. With this arrangement, the distance between the notch28 and the point 14 determines the depth of the pleat formed when gauge18 is used, and the distance between the notch 34 and the point 14determines the depth of pleat formed when gauge 20 is used.

As best illustrated in FIG. 4, the notch 28 permits the pierced materialto pass therepast in a direction away from the point 14, and theshoulder 30 thereof engages and constrains the material 16 from passingtherepast in a direction toward the point 14. The notch 34 operates inidentical fashion. Thus, the pleating gauges 18 and 20 each serve as aform of anchor or holding means which holds one end of the material 16while the free end thereof is extended in alignment with the point 14for piercing.

The pleating gauge 18 is utilized in forming deeper pleats of remnantsof mens suits, for example, and gauge 20 is utilized in forming pleatsof substantially the same body or bulk with a lighter material, such asstrips of discarded nylon stockings. That is, the length of materialextending between the shoulder of the notch 34 and the point 14 isgreater than the length of material which is measured by the distancebetween the notch 28 and point 14 so that the thinner material is thuscharacterized by wider pleats.

After the narrow strip of pleated material 16 is formed on the needle10, it is slid or moved past the two pleating gauges 18 and 20, whosetapering sections 32 facilitate such movement. The pleats are then slidinto the material gauge 26 until it is filled, it being apparent thatthe weight of the material 16 determines the number of pleats that thematerial gauge 26 will hold. The light material requires more pleatsthan the heavier material to fill the gauge 26, but the thickness ofeach unit of pleats in the material gauge 26 is substantially the sameregardless of the weight of material. In this manner different kinds anddifferent weights of material can be used for the same The materialgauge 26 is constituted by an elongated notch 40 terminating in inclinedor tapered shoulders 38 so that the material 16 can be moved into andout of the notch 40 without difiiculty.

The increase gauge 24 is substantially identical to the material gauge26, but the elongated notch 36 thereof is longer than the notch 40 sothat the increase gauge 24 accommodates an increased number of pleats.This is for the reason that the. rug makermust increase the numher ofpleats on the curved part of the rug in order for the finished rug tolie flat. However, the increase gauge 24 is used only by those who Wishto crochet the rug together, as will be seen, and is not used when therug is to be laced together by the technique or method of the presentinvention.

Although the gauges 18, 20, 24 and 26 are preferably constituted bynotches which are formed in or out of the material of the needle 10, thegauges may also be a raised portion such as would be constituted by awire 42 or the like, as best viewed in FIG. 5. The wire 42 is secured inposition about the periphery of the needle shank 12 at the properlocation, as will be apparent, only one wire 42 being used in the caseof each of the pleating gauges 18 and 2t), while a pair of such Wiresare used in the case of the material gauges 24 and 26. The wires 42 ofeach pair are spaced apart sufiiciently to provide the length of gaugedesired, as will be apparent.

FIG. 6 illustrate another arrangement for providing a gauge structure,the gauge structure in this case being constituted by a raised portionin the form of a shoulder 44 formed integral with the material of theneedle shank 12. One shoulder 44 is sufficient to provide a gauge 18 ora gauge 20, while a pair of such shoulders 44 are used to form amaterial gauge 24 or 26. FIG. 7 illustrates yet another gauge structurein which a painted line 46 or other indicia is formed on the needleshank 12 to indicate the proper depth of pleat, the user merely placinga thumb, as shown at 48, adjacent the line 46 to halt the advance of thematerial up the needle shank 12 during pleating. Two lines 50 could beused to define the limits of each of the material gauges as well, aswill be apparent.

A rug can be formed with the needle 10 by the Well known crochetingmethod. This is done by inserting the crochet hook 22 into a loop at oneend of a length of waxed rug warp (not shown), drawing the loop througha group or unit of pleats, as measured by one or the other of the gauges24 or 26, and making a chain stitch to hold the pleat unit together.This is repeated until a chain stitch has been made between each unit orgroup of pleats.

Assuming that an oval rug is to be formed by crocheting, a length of thechain-stitched material is doubled to form the center and then crochetedtogether. A subsequent length of chain-stitched material is thencircumferentially disposed about the first length and crocheted thereto.When going around the curved part of the rug, the thickness of pleats ina pleat unit or group must be greater and the increase gauge 24 is usedfor this purpose, as previously described. Thus, when coming to a curvedpart of the rug, each inside group of pleats is crocheted to an outsidegroup of pleats of greater thickness, the greater length or thickness ofthe outside pleat unit permitting the rug to lie flat.

A much simpler and easier method of fabricating a rug with the needle 10forms a part of the present invention. According to this method, pleatsare formed along the length of the needle 10 as previously described,but groups or units of such pleats are not crocheted together as was thecase with the crocheting method. Instead, as best viewed in FIGS. 8through 10, one extremity of a length of waxed 111g thread or warp 50 isformed into a loop 52 and the crochet hook 22 inserted into the loop.The length of pleated material 16 is then slid like a string of beadsoff the needle shank 12 onto the warp 50. The material gauges 24 and 26are not used. Pleating with the needle 10 is continued until asubstantial length of pleated material is formed, and a knot is thenmade in the ends of the warp 50 to keep the pleats from sliding off.

The end portion of the pleated material 16 on the warp 50 forms thecenter of the pleated rug and is measured ofi according to the size andshape of rug which is desired. The rug illustrated is an oval rug. Thesubsequent portion of the length of pleated material is then wound uponthe center or measured portion of the pleated material, and securedthereto by a lacing method which utilizes a lacer 52. Successive turnsof pleated material are secured in the same fashion, as will be seen.

The lacer 52 is elongated, preferably slightly bowed from end to end,and includes a point at one end and an eye at the opposite end. A lengthof waxed rug warp 54 is secured to the pleated material 16 and loopedthrough the eye of the lacer 52, and the lacer 52 then threaded underthe warp 50 to lace together adjacent portions of the spiral of pleatedmaterial 16.

More particularly, as best viewed in FIG. 10, the lacer 52 is passedback and forth between the adjacent portions or rows of pleated material16, like lacing a pair of shoes. The lacer 52 is threaded under and overthe warp 50 located between a pair of pleats in one row, similarlythreaded about the warp 50 of a pair of pleats in the adjacent row, andthen threaded back to the first row, but this time about the warp 50between the next pair of pleats in that row. The lacing is continued inthis manner until the rug size desired has been fabricated.

When going around a curved part of the rug, the warp 54 is threadedunder more pleats on the outside row, compared to the pleats on theinside row, so that the rug will be flat, as for example, two pleats onthe outside row and a single pleat on the inside row.

The abovedescribed lacing method of fabricating a rug with the needle10, using a string of single pleats, can also be used with a string ofpleat units which are crocheted or chain-stitched together. Aspreviously described, a pleat unit or group of individual pleats iscrocheted by inserting the crochet hook 22 into a loop at one end of alength of waxed rug warp. The loop is then drawn through a plurality ofpleats, constituting the pleat unit or group, and the unit of pleats isthen crocheted or chain-stitched together. This is repeated until achain stitch has been made between each unit or group of pleats to forma string.

The lacing method may be utilized to form the string of pleat units intoa rug by passing the lacer 52 back and forth between adjacent rows ofchain-stitched pleat groups. That is, instead of passing it back andforth between each individual pleat, as previously described, the laceris passed between each unit or group of pleats.

The term pleat unit is used in the claims hereinafter set forth toinclude both a single pleat and a plurality of pleats secured togetherin a unit or group.

From the foregoing, it Will be apparent that the present needle permitsan inexperienced person to make attractive rugs out of a variety ofmaterials of different thicknesses, the gauges eliminating guesswork onthe part of the rug maker as to pleat depth and number of pleats perpleat unit for rug uniformity. In addition, a gauge is also provided todetermine the number of extra pleats necessary per pleat unit whenrounding the curved portion of a rug, thus insuring that a crocheted rugwill lie Various modificatons and changes may be made with regard to theforegoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating arug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length ofmaterial, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removalof said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and furtherhaving a pleating gauge longitudinally spaced from said point apredetermined distance equivalent to half the depth of pleat desired,and thereby being adapted to indicate the proper length of material tobe fed onto the shank between piercings of said material by said point.

2. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating arug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length ofmaterial, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removalof said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and furtherhaving a pleating gauge longitudinally spaced from said point apredetermined distance equivalent to half the depth of pleat desired,and adapted to permit pierced material to pass therepast in a directionaway from said point and adapted to engage and constrain said materialfrom passing therepast in a direction toward said point. 3. A crochetneedle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug,said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a hook at one end to facilitate removal ofmaterial from said shank and onto a rug thread, and a point at the otherend for piercing a length of material, said shank further having meanslongitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to allow piercedmaterial to be slid therepast from the point side to the hook side ofsaid means, and further adapted to engage said pierced material andotter noticeable constraint against movement of said material from thehook side to the point side of said means. 4. A needle for providingpleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needlecomprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length ofmaterial, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removalof said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and furtherhaving a notch longitudinally spaced from said point and including anabrupt shoulder for constraining material against movement out of saidnotch and toward said point. 5. A needle for providing pleats of aparticular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length ofmaterial, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removalof said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and furtherhaving a wire longitudinally spaced from said point and disposed aboutsaid shank for constraining material against movement over said wire andtoward said point. 6. A needle for providing pleats of a particulardepth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length ofmaterial, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removalof said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and furtherhaving a raised portion longitudinally spaced from said point andadapted to engage and constrain said material against movement over saidraised portion and toward said point. 7. A crochet needle comprising: anelongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other endfor piercing a length of material, said shank further having pleatinggauge means longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to allowpierced material to be slid therepast from the point side to the hookside of said means, and further adapted to engage said pierced materialand oifer noticeable constraint against movement of said material fromthe hook side to the point side of said pleating gauge means, said shankfurther including material gauge means located between said pleatinggauge means and said hook and adapted to accommodate only apredetermined thickness of pleats of material. 8. A crochet needlecomprising: an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point atthe other end for piercing a length of material, said shank furtherhaving pleating gauge means 7i longitudinally spaced-from said point andadapted to allow pierced material to he slid therepast from the pointside to the hook side of said means, and further adapted to engage saidpierced material and ing .gauge notches and said hook, and each adaptedfor accommodating only a predetermined thickness of pleats of materialand each terminating in inclined shoulders adapted to noticeablyconstrain pleats of ofier noticeable constraint against moveme t f idmaterial from sliding out of the associated material material from thehook side to the point side of said gauge notch, one Of Said materialgauge notches pleating gauge means, said shank further includingconstituting a larger increase gauge notch adapted material gauge meanslocated betw id pleating to accommodate a larger predetermined thicknessof gauge means and said hook and comprising an elonpleats ofmaterialgated notch terminati g in incli d h u1d 10 11. A crochet needleaccording to claim 7 Wherem said adapted to noticeably constrain pleatsof material from sliding out of said notch, said notch being adapted toaccommodate only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material.

pleating gauge means comprises:

a notch having an abrupt shoulder for constraining material againstmovement out of said notch and toward said point.

12. A crochet needle according to claim 7 wherein said pleating gaugemeans comprises:

a wire disposed about said shank for constraining material againstmovement over said wire and toward said point.

13. A crochet needle according to claim 7 wherein said pleating gaugemeans comprises:

a raised portion for constraining said material against movement oversaid raised portion and toward said 9. A crochet needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other endfor piercing a length of material, said shank further having a pleatinggauge notch longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to permitpierced material to pass therepast toward said hook and including anabrupt shoulder for constraining the pierced material from passingtherepast toward said point, said shank further including an elongatedmaterial gauge notch located between said F P pleating gauge notch andsaid hook for accommodating only a predetermined thickness of pleats ofmate- References Clted by the Examiner rial, said material gauge notchterminating in in- UNITED STATES PATENTS clined shoulders adapted tonoticeably constrain 1,751,796 3/1930 Dennar pleats of material fromsliding out of said material 2,279,662 4/1942 Denner X ig i ggfiz p2,443,358 6/ 1948 Michaelis l12262 i 1 g: an elongated shank having ahook at one end and a point at the other end for piercing a length ofmaterial, said shank further having a plurality of pleating FOREIGNPATENTS gauge notches located at different distances from said 2,0271890 Great Britain.

point and each adapted to permit pierced material 71,775 3/1947 Norway.

to pass therepast toward said hook and each including an abrupt shoulderfor constraining the pierced material from passing therepast toward saidpoint, said shank further including a plurality of elongated materialgauge notches located between said pleat- ROBERT R. MACKEY, ActingPrimary Examiner.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, RUSSELL C. MADER,

Examiners.

1. A NEEDLE FOR PROVIDING PLEATS OF A PARTICULAR DEPTH FOR FABRICATING ARUG, SAID NEEDLE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED SHANK HAVING A POINT AT ONEEND FOR PIERCING A LENGTH OF MATERIAL, FURTHER HAVING A HOOK AT THEOTHER END TO FACILITATE REMOVAL OF SAID MATERIAL FROM SAID NEEDLE ANDONTO A RUG THREAD, AND FURTHER HAVING A PLEATING GAUGE LONGITUDINALLYSPACED FROM SAID POINT A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE EQUIVALENT TO HALF THEDEPTH OF PLEAT DESIRED, AND THEREBY BEING ADAPTED TO INDICATE THE PROPERLENGTH OF MATERIAL TO BE FED ONTO THE SHANK BETWEEN PIERCINGS OF SAIDMATERIAL BY SAID POINT.